Living in: Cities known for architecture

Cities can be known for their cultural
offerings, their pace of life or their public transportation systems, but some
metropolises have a special quality or quantity of buildings that creates
a unique urban thumbprint and resonates with people across the
globe. These cities, often cited as the “world’s best” for
architecture or design in such publications as Conde Nast Traveler, Bloomberg Businessweekand ArchDaily, may not all have
universal appeal, but they do have a vibrant and unforgettable cityscape.

The number and length of foreclosures citywide
continue to drag down the real estate market, but Chicago is continuing to
improve and rehabilitate parks and neighbourhoods, such as the
new construction of Maggie Daley Park (part of Grant Park) and the Target department store that is being built
on the site of the infamous Cabrini-Green housing projects, just 12 blocks from Chicago’s wealthy Gold Coast. Condos
in high-profile residential buildings like The Contemporaine, designed by architect Ralph Johnson and built
in 2004 in the art gallery-filled
River North neighbourhood, are highly sought after and start at around $400,000.
The median price for a single family home in the buzzy Near
North Side neighbourhood (which includes River North) is $1.5 million, while in
West Town (which includes trendy Wicker Park) is $606,000. The median price for
a condo in desirable Lincoln Park is $380,000, while to the north in more affordable Logan Square it is $240,000. In Near North Side,
rents average around $2,780 a month for a two-bedroom flat, while in Lincoln
Park a two-bed averages around $2,075.

BarcelonaIn a city whose mere sidewalks are decorative and
beautiful, it is no hard task to find beauty when you lift your
eyes just a few metres. The famous Antoni Gaudi buildings,
including La Pedrera with its facade that flows with
Art Nouveau brilliance, whet the appetite for his stunning mosaic
fantasy of Parc Guell and masterwork of the still-to-be-completed
Sagrada Familia cathedral. From
Mies van der Rohe to Jean Nouvel, almost every great architect of the modern
era has left their mark on Barcelona's cityscape – from
Nouvel’s Torre Agbar, a bullet-shaped skyscraper built in 2005, to
the newly opened Las Arenas, a shopping centre built inside the
famed, decommissioned bull-fighting ring, designed by Richard Rogers.

Although one of the most architecturally experimental
cities in Europe, Barcelona is suffering from what ails the entire Spanish
economy, which is currently in a deep recession. “The market is still
going down but at a slower rate,” said David Franks, a sales agent for Lucas
Fox estate agents. “There are many opportunities for investment at prime
locations.” In central Barcelona, an 80 to 120sqm property costs between
300,000 and 600,000 euros. To attract more foreign investment, the Spanish
government is considering giving residency visas to international buyers
who purchase a property for more than 160,000 euros. The average rent for a
three-bed flat in the city centre is 1,200 euros a month.

Barcelona Design Festival: guide to the city’s FADfest and Design
Week,
which both showcase new interior design, architecture, graphic and industrial
design

DubaiIt is not the greatness of Dubai’s architecture that
makes the list, but that the city has so much of it. Although the
recession put a halt to some of the construction, such as Rem Koolhaas’
Waterfront City and the solar-and-wind powered Lighthouse Tower, which have been
indefinitely suspended, plenty of other mind-boggling
structures have been built. Top of the list is the current title holder of the
world’s tallest building, the 160-floor, 830m-high Burj Khalifa, which opened in 2010. The manmade Palm
Jumeirah islands, created by dredging the
seabed, can be seen from space, while the towers of
the Dubai Marina district and structures like the black pyramid
of the Raffles hotel were all
constructed at a blinding pace that stunned the world. Now that the economy is stabilising,
Dubai is gearing back up with massive new projects like the Dubai Modern Art Museum and Opera House District announced in 2012, though a completion
date is yet unknown. But nothing has yet surpassed the
wind-stiffened, bellied-out sail of the Burj Al Arab hotel, which
opened in 1999 and is arguably still the most famous
silhouette on the Dubai skyline.

Some of the most desirable locations to live
are in close proximity to these city landmarks and have a high-impact visual
quality of their own, such as the curving, 80-storey Infinity Tower in
Dubai Marina and the low villas of the Arabian Ranches community. “People
look at the proximity to work, access to main roads, public transport,
public facilities and schools,” said David Lawes, senior
residential consultant for Better Homes realtors. “They want the best
location and quality for their budget.” Average house prices in Dubai
Marina are 1.8 million dirhams and rentals are 120,000 dirhams per year.

CopenhagenAlthough this Scandinavian city is currently in vogue
for New Nordic cuisine at the likes of Noma, the
world’s best restaurant, and its highly popular television series such
as Forbryldeson (The Killing), Danish architecture and urban
planning are a perennial draw. A number of new public and
private buildings have rejuvenated the waterfront and undeveloped parts of the
city. The Black Diamond that gleams darkly on the harbourfront is a
stunning addition to the Royal Library that houses exhibition spaces and a
concert hall, while the Royal Danish Playhouse adds its lustre to the same area.
Home-grown wunderkind Bjarke Ingels’ award-winning 8TALLET and VM residential buildings in the new development of Ørestad City on
the island of Amager, south of the city centre, have
reinvented the modern apartment block by giving every flat a view of the
surroundings. “The few residential buildings designed by him are
very popular,” said Torben Andersen, co-founder of RobinHus, a web real-estate firm.
“They have helped draw interest to a part of Copenhagen that was
basically barren land on the outskirts of the city.” The new
district is also home to Jean Nouvel’s blue cube of a concert hall DR Koncerthuset.

The recession has affected Copenhagen’s housing market,
but in 2012 prices increased more than 7% from 2011. However,
restrictions still apply to non-EU citizens looking to purchase
property unless you get a permit that
states you are going to be a permanent resident.
With the average purchasing price at 21,000 Danish kroner per square
metre, a two-bedroom flat costs around 1.3 to 1.5 million Danish kroner, while
large apartments can cost up to 4.5 million Danish kroner. Average rent for a
two-bed flat in an older building costs around 5,000 Danish kroner per month,
while those in new construction can cost double that.

ShanghaiThis vertical city hovers over its colonial and
historic past. The dazzling towers of the Pudong District blaze far
above the former banks and custom houses on the Bund, the
rows of 19th-century shikumen townhouses and the Art Deco
buildings and leafy lanes of the French Concession. The Pearl of the Orient TV Tower dominates the city skyline, but closer
to the street, Arata Isozaki’s Himalaya Center, a
retail, hotel and theatre complex, and the Oriental Art Center, designed by Paul Andreu, ground the
district. Soon Shanghai Tower, slated for completion in
2014, will have 121 stories and be the second tallest building in
China. (The next world’s tallest building, Sky City in Changsa – with 220
floors – is to be built this year.) Meanwhile, the after-effects of
hosting the World Expo 2010 are still benefitting the city with the 5sqkm site
being redeveloped into a mixed-use district along the Huangpo River,
walkable from the Bund, by 2016.

Shanghai’s housing market continues to bubble along,
with prices rising in recent months and an improvement in sales volume from 2011.
The average house price is 20,677 renminbi per square metre and foreign buyers
need to prove one year of residency in order to buy a home. The luxury residences
in Pudong’s highrises are popular with buyers who wants to live in the sleekest, most upscale of apartments, while others seek a piece of history with a Western-style
row house in the French Concession. A two-bed apartment in a newly constructed
building in Pudong can start at 8 million renminbi. A one-bedroom city centre
flat costs about 5,500 renminbi per month, while a three-bed costs 12,000 renminbi.
Lane houses rent for 25,000 to 80,000 renminbi a month and sell for anywhere
from 20 to 80 million renminbi.